My parents were young people just getting started out in life during the Great Depression, so I, too, grew up with frequent admonitions about not being wasteful. My dad used to eat peculiar combinations of food from fridge and cupboard, often just to use something up before it went bad, including things that probably ought to have made him sick, but I guess he had an iron stomach. I miss having chickens to toss the scraps to, and to clean up the odds and ends from the fridge from time to time. I haven't jumped on the stainless steel straw bandwagon yet, but I do wash and re-use my plastic straws several times. Lightly-used napkins or paper towels go into a box under the sink for wiping up spills on the floor. When I was much younger, and all the girls had to wear dresses to school, we would make our nylon pantihose last longer by cutting off one leg when it got too damaged, and wearing two half-pairs at the same time. I rarely wear pantihose anymore, so I don't worry about making them last forever. I suppose there are other frugal things I do without even thinking about them.